Wikipedia (Hearts) Athens

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Modern Age

Those perennial popsters the Modern Skirts are at it again. They've released a video for "Soft Pedals" from the new album All of Us in Our Night.

Well, if you're in Athens this weekend, you can check 'em out in the flesh at the 40 Watt Club on Saturday. If you can't make it, FEAR NOT! I've embedded "Soft Pedals" below along with the awesome vid "Pasadena." Yes, Jay may be sick of singing it by now I'm sure but it's a damn good song.


Modern Skirts - Soft Pedals SOM Video from Modern Skirts on Vimeo.

New Addiction: Leading Edge

Bands start and end every day in Athens. Out of the literal thousands formed, several hundred make it to a stage. A few hundred make it to a studio. Maybe a hundred make it to the radio. When I put Leading Edge on the air at WUOG, I felt that we had something here.

Matt, the lead singer, slipped me a disc during Music Business class and asked if I'd give it a listen. It's not the first time a friend has asked me to try their stuff but it was one of the few times that I actually liked what I heard.

I gave it a few spins on WUOG during the show to find out if anyone would react to it. People started calling in saying how much they loved it. After going to the 40 Watt show the other night, it's easy to see why.

Leading Edge has a pretty classic sound, akin to the Modern Skirts with a bit more edge (pardon the pun). "Sarah" is one of the best things I've heard from a new band in a long time. The songs on their EP are pretty catchy and stick in your head.

That said, they are a new band and have a bit more growing to do as songwriters and performers but that's half the fun. Nobody should ever stop growing. These guys will only get better with time and I can't wait to hear what they do next.

blueshades

Vacation in Athens is Calling Me....

It's always a lot of fun to watch tourists come to Athens, mainly because I remember the feelings that I had coming here for the first time. Like when you first find out where R.E.M.'s secret headquarters is, then you can't stop staring, then you try to look away and ignore it but it's still there. Or visiting Ricky Wilson's grave. The thoughts that go through your mind when you think of such a life cut short. This weekend, I had the pleasure of showing a friend from Tallahassee around. And it rekindled my obsessive love for this town.

You can quickly get used to a city. Walk by a place like Wuxtry or REMHQ a million times and think nothing of it. I've tried to keep my sense of awe about me as much as I can but when something incredible is part of your everyday, chances are that you will take it for granted at some point.

We first went to the steeple, which has seen better days. Buck claims that it was only marginally better that they didn't burn the place down when they left. It's in desperate need of some TLC but a fight over land property will probably cause this landmark to disappear completely one day. Very sad. The Murmurs trestle will eventually lose the fight for survival, I'm sure. The steeple may stand a chance though. I hope it will get some help.

We then walked to campus and checked out WUOG's new digs. The place is kinda bare right now and I really miss the old station. Maybe I can come back 15 years from now and say "Wow, this is WUOG." *sigh*

After wandering around a bit ("That's where Mike lived on campus. There's Reed where Bill was.."), we returned downtown for some grub from Uncle Otto's. I adore that place. My tourists so kindly paid for my lunch. Yay!

Then we went shopping. Junkmans, Bizzaro Wuxtry, Agora, Gig Worn. All these awesome eclectic places full of stuff I would love to have but cannot afford. I didn't buy anything until Agora where I found a vinyl copy of "Chronic Town." Then my friend found another! We both left Agora very pleased with our little selves for finding such treasures. (Anyone know how to get a few minor scratches out of vinyl? Carefully??)

I had forgotten about all the awesome shops we have in town. Since my finances are less than ideal, I usually avoid buying anything that's not on the Taco Bell dollar menu. Gig Worn was especially cool. If I had a band (anyone need a bassist/lyricist?) that had a photoshoot, I would head here to find some pretty cool threads. Tons of awesome concert tees, pants, jackets, belts..My buddy gave me an amazing knitted cuff bracelet and we went our different ways.

I walked really slowly back to my place. The sun was glinting off a building downtown. Really large windows filled with R.E.M. posters. I stared. Then I caught myself and looked away but I felt it looming behind me. Realizing what I had just done, I couldn't help but smile. Things may change, but some feelings stay the same.


blueshades

Law & Order: Music Law Panel

This Thursday was an incredibly long day for me music wise. Several albums due to be reviewed, lots of emails, and a concert to promote. Needless to say, I was not in the best mood. Thankfully, I had something to look forward to: The Second Annual Music Law Forum, presented by the UGA Music Business and the UGA Law School.

Music law's something I've been throwing around for a long time. While my chances of getting into law school are slim to none, law's always been fascinating to me. Pair that with my music obsession and you have a pretty powerful mix.

Anyway, some friends and I went to Little Italy's for pizza/subs before the forum. We discussed quite a bit of material, mostly revolving around the good and bad of the UGA Music Business program. While munching into our subs, we threw out the hypotheticals for future employment in this business we call music. Writer? Lawyer? Manager? Jam Band tour manager? The list got pretty long and increasingly specialized. I really enjoy these conversations because they allow you to bounce ideas off each other and offer advice and help.

After stuffing ourselves full of suby goodness, we walked to the law school, searching for room "A." After asking a random person and getting hopelessly lost inside the building, we were fortunate enough to run into two law students.

"Room A right?"

"Um, yeah. How did you know?"

"You just look like music people. And we're entertainment law."

"Oh."

Thanks to those two women, we found our way to the law room where they had food (!) waiting outside. Having already had mass quantities, we decided just to grab a Coke and settle into our seats. I took a quick look around and was pleasantly surprised to see a large group of our MBUS classmates. We chatted for a bit, mostly talking about who the panel was.

"Who's this Bertis Downs guy?"

*blank stare from me*

"What?"

"Please tell me you're kidding."

Unfortunately, she was not. So after educating her on the finer points of his career, I moved on to describing the other panelists. I'm the type of nerd who has to google people before I hear them speak. Kinda a reassurance of legitimacy issue. Blame my journalist side if you must.

We took our seats and were given an introduction to our moderator Mr. Downs (far more detailed than mine..) and began to hear from the panelists.

Michael Crain specializes in intellectual property and trademark work for estates such as Jerry Garcia and Sinatra.Jonathan Leonard works with producers, songwriters, and publishers out of Atlanta.Lisa Moore worked with GA Lawyers for the Arts, an organization that is absolutely priceless for struggling artists who need help with copyrighting their work.David Prasse owns Slush Fund, they just put out the new Empties record.

So with our panel fully introduced, they went into depth about how they got into music law. As I was scribbling my notes (all 5 pages!), very similar patterns started to appear. None of them had really planned on going into music law. They also had started to branch out into other areas of entertainment.

Moore probably put it best. "Now, the music is everywhere. Even the music oriented touch other areas like t.v., movies, magazines. Everything's up for grabs." Moore compared it to being a "manager" rather than just a lawyer.

Bertis then asked what had changed in their practices in the last decade, with email coming more into focus. All of them agreed. STRESS. A never-ending onslaught of stress.

"Your clients expect you to be within reach at all times," said Leonard. "I learned very quickly that you have to have a line firmly put down between you and the client about contact." Several of the panelists don't let clients have their personal cell phone numbers, for peace of mind.

A side note from the conversation led into the discussion of 360 deals. Until 2 years ago, most record deals looked the same. Today, majors are looking for giant pieces of an artist's income by tapping into the tour/merch/publishing income. But is this bad for bands? The answer: mostly yes but it depends.

"If you're at the Madonna level, you'd be fine doing the deal," said Moore. "But many indie labels are trying the same thing and that's dangerous."

I was waiting to hear what Bertis had to say on the subject. R.E.M. is supposedly on their last record under their WB contract. If they continue making music, would they consider a 360 deal? God I hope not. But Downs seemed sorta adverse to the idea of such a deal, mentioning that it was a bit crazy to put all your eggs in one basket like that.

The conversation went on for a bit longer with questions from the crowd being tossed out. General points: Attorneys have to do more for clients now, majors are laying off big numbers but smaller places are growing, and artists should approach lawyers when they're on the cusp of a new plateau.

Overall, it was a great discussion for anyone interested in these issues. I did see a few people about to nod off but that's their problem. Me, I have five pages of good notes and a handshake from a music icon from the night.

I was in a darn good mood as my friends and I headed off to the Melting Point for our show. The sold out crowd there only made me happier since I helped promote the thing. Needless to say, a busy night well spent for this Athens music junkie. I went to sleep and dreamed of litigation and power chords.

blueshades

Now I Am Bitter

I doubt Ted would've minded me using the title of his P*** Orchard song for this post. I am furious at the moment and here's why.

The whole thing revolves around the greatest place in town, Nuci's Space. Founded in 1999, the non-profit has been dedicated to helping those poor vagabonds we call musicians here in Athens. They provide access to mental and physical health services, practice rooms for bands to rent, a pretty good reading library, a stage to perform on...everything a musician might need really.

So here's the kicker. Athens-Clarke County wants to deny the Space a property tax exemption. Since it sells beer/food, rents practice space, sells instruments, and other profitable endeavors, it shouldn't be exempt they argue. The fact that this all goes back to the Space to help run it seems lost on them.

Looking at the arguments on the ABH page, it seems that (at least among the membership) we all agree that this is pretty dumb. Musicians aren't exactly rolling in the dough in the first place and a non-profit supporting them has its own challenges financially without having to pay for legal representation, fees, and what not.

WHY? Why go after these guys? Is the ACC really hurting that bad for funding? *SIGH*

ANYWAY, If you want to learn more about Nuci's Space, here's a link. Even if you're not in the Athens area, you can still donate to the cause. Thanks guys.

Have a great long weekend.

blueshades

Venues = Warmth

Truth be told, Athens, GA does not get very cold. Being in the deep southern United States will do that to your thermostat. That doesn't mean that I don't freeze my tush off on a regular basis though.

Sure, you up North can say that 40 degrees is not cold and I have no clue what I'm talking about. To that I say, why don't you come down here in July? That way I can mock you when you complain about 70 degrees being oh so hot.

Back to my original topic. It's cold. Really cold. Like 9 degrees this morning. And when you go to a lot of shows in cinderblock-like buildings, you have to know where the heat is and whether the band is worth losing some toes to frostbite for. Normally, I'd consider going to a venue for its sound quality, atmosphere, stuff like that. In the winter though? That crap goes out the window. Take me someplace warm!!!

The Caledonia Lounge usually falls on my list o' avoidance because unless you can position yourself right underneath the heater, it's not worth it. I'm gonna just pass Gordon some hot chocolate on the way to the 40 Watt instead.

Also suffering would be the place known as Rye Bar. It used to be called DT's but after some much needed repairs, reopened. The venue is small and basically a basement downtown. Freezing cold. There are very few acts I would go see during this cold snap...

Then there's Little Kings Shuffle Club. Part of the allure is the nifty little picnic situation they have out back. But if it's cold, good luck getting my rear outside.

The Melting Point is one that can go either way. The outside is great for standing and they do have little space heaters but it's probably just better to stay inside and have a drink of Peach Tea.

That being said, I'll probably be headed to all of 'em if the right band is playing but expect to find me in the Watt or Theatre, warming my hands by air drumming like a moron.


blueshades

The Perils of Moving Stations

WUOG is back on air now, broadcasting from Tate Center. Normally, I'd be "YAY! My radio's back!" Right now, though, I'm a little worried.

You see, all of our crap is in boxes piled from floor to ceiling. The cds, the photos, some gold records that I was not aware of...

Then we get the email telling all deejays that we're not to touch the boxes. The executives who were in charge must come and put the records away. Oh wait. They can't. We haven't gotten the record shelves yet. So all that beautiful vinyl will just have to sit there until we do. (insert long expletive laden rant here.)

So that leaves us djs to use our own collections to fill out our shifts. For me, doing the local show is easy. Just plug in the ipod and pick two hours from the over 8 days worth of Athens music I have on there. Someone who's doing the, oh say, 40's and 50's show may not be so lucky.

Add into this equation the more than likely possibility of something breaking, becoming missing, or otherwise dead to me and have we got ourselves a party.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

/rant

Anyway, last night was basically training all over again. I went ahead and made a playlist on the iPod and just left it at that while I messed around the new place. I was pretty darn pleased with how well my playlist worked. Perfect length, a decent variety, and no sudden transitions from loud to soft. I even kinda grouped them according to kind.

My pleasure, however, was short lived. As I was sliding my chair across the room to grab the phone, my headphone cord got caught in the chair, switched off the board, and dragged me by the neck to the ground. After my life finished passing in front of my eyes, I realized two things. 1) Death by strangulation = not good and 2) I'm really not digging the new layout.

Here's a good example. Drummers like to have everything in their kit within arm's length because if it's not, they miss a beat. Same with radio djs. Our current situation has our mic bolted to the wall and our record player and computer a good 2.5 arm lengths away. Meaning that you will hear a pause in between me speaking and the music. DEAD AIR.

Don't get me wrong. I still have high hopes for the new place. Once we get everything unpacked and working, maybe we could start decorating a bit more and make it feel like home. I know just where to put that gold record...


blueshades

Cover Charge

This weekend was my boss's wedding so the celebrating and festivities went on all Saturday. There was a party before, the actual wedding, the reception, and then the party after the reception. Since I haven't been working here all that long, I went to the after-reception party at the Melting Point.

Parties are kinda awkward for me. I don't drink or smoke so I never have anything to do with my hands. I usually just shove 'em into my front pockets or find creative new ways of supporting my head at the table. Maybe the two elbow butterfly support, or the head angled slightly to the left...Add to that the whole "I know 7 out of 172 people here" factor and then you've really got me. Thank god for music.

The Melting Point was absolutely packed. I took a seat in the corner with another of my bosses (total of 7 from this company) and his girlfriend and a coworker. We discussed random things and had a great discussion about how our overall boss looks a lot like this guy from behind when he puts on a scarf.

Spring Tigers started up with a bunch of covers including "Catapult" and "Psycho Killer" which I am sad to say I only knew because of Rock Band 2. I like the band but I can't help but feel they'd do a lot better if they turned the sound down a bit. You're loud. Cool. But if I can hear is *bzzzzzzz* then that's not a good thing. It ticked off this older lady so bad that she actually GOT ONSTAGE and asked the keyboardist to turn it down! PWND!

I wandered on back to the mixing board to speak with my friend Wes for a bit. I love watching him fiddle with the sound and you'd be amazed at what you can pick up while just watching. It's a great seat to see everything from. It also opens you up to sneak attacks from random co-workers who send random rockstars to stand behind you until you notice them. Very creepy.

Next up came Heavy Petty, an amazing Tom Petty cover band. They played all the hits until my boss came onstage with pretty much every guy there and did the Super Bowl shuffle. I'm so glad they taped that...

Things were starting to wind down when Kevin asked if we were going anywhere later. I hadn't planned on it but random rockstar insisted that we head to the 40 Watt to see Ice Cream Man (Van Halen) and Powerload (AC/DC). I found out that we had a lot of mutual friends in the band so why not?

We arrived in time to catch the last part of ICM doing some typical Van Halen guitar-type stuff. I was still a bit beat so I sat in the corner sipping on a Coke while a guy in a long curly blond wig wailed about sex and girls and teachers and all that jazz. A decent show. I just wish he would've done some sword twirling...

I chatted with the gang for a bit while we were waiting for Powerload. Any guy who takes on Bon Scott's vocals with that much passion deserves a cookie. I'm not a big fan of AC/DC but there's something to be said for watching Powerload with the carnival of people I was with. There was plenty of jumping and screaming and crowdsurfing from the stage. "Highway to Hell" was fantastic but "Dirty Deeds" was phenomenal. Hooray for three chord rock!

All in all, a very good night. Got back around 2, wrote this post, went to bed.


blueshades

Corey Smith: 5 Things You Should Know

Corey Smith stopped by our UGA Music Business class yesterday to kick off the new semester in style. The former teacher stood in front of a great crowd of students, musicians, and others from the Athens music community and told his story about how he has made a living from his music.

I've said before that Athens music doesn't have a "sound." Which is true. But Athens does have an ethic and an inventiveness that keeps it going when other scenes die out. Corey understands. So here are 5 little things you should know about COREY SMITH.

1) He's a millionare. Sorta.
Last year, Smith grossed over $1.7 million. No record label. No huge staff. Just 8 or 9 guys and some fans.

2) He gives his music away for free.
"You want to break down the barrier between the band and the fan."
Smith offers up most of his songs for free downloading on his site. Other times fans request songs from him and he just emails them! This seems crazy right? Giving away what you could use for profit. But this freegan attitude towards his songs has allowed Smith to reach fans in a way few have. A fan will download a song, tell a friend, then that friend downloads the song.
"Eventually, they start paying for songs because they attach value to it."

3) Corey Smith concerts are $5.
Seriously. Pre-order tickets and certain main shows are five bucks. The most he goes up to is $20 for a show. How can he stay in business? Well,....

4) He doesn't believe in guitar techs.
"I don't need to pay 100 bucks for someone to put my strings on my guitar when I can do it myself."
Due to the really high cost of touring, Corey Smith likes to keep stuff very simple. He and his small crew haul their own gear, string their own guitars, maintain their own equipment, pretty much everything they could pay someone else to do.

5)He's not kidding himself.
"This is more than a dream come true."
Smith is well aware that his profession is in a fickle field but he seemed content with that. As for long term fame goals, he has none.
"I just want to make a living doing music for as many people for as long a time as possible."


His website
His myspace
UGA Music Business Program

Mike Mills at WUOG: UPDATE!

Thanks to Tommy and Jason at WUOG, we've now got the whole "Mike Mills Birthday Sled To Hell" streaming online here.

And thanks to the efforts of Mary, Sophia,and Tommy, here's some photos from the day.
Not including a certain pic from the REMfanclub newsletter.

And in case you're new or you missed it, the piece I wrote about the experience.

Comment Commitment

So, I was going through the back logs of this here blog and found some comments on older posts that I hadn't noticed before. This made me smile.

You see, if it weren't for my nifty little sitemeter thing, I wouldn't know if anyone read this blog. Because comments are scarce.

I want to hear from you! What are we doing right/wrong? Who do you want to hear about/from? What do you think of this post or that one.... It makes my day to see the comment box lit up.

While you're at it, check out the "Check these guys out" box. We've added a few more people including Nuci's Space, probably the greatest place in Athens. Click around, make yourself at home. Just take off your shoes before you step on the shag carpet. It's a pain to clean.

How I Met Witness the Apotheosis

Let me being by saying that before I was introduced to Witness the Apotheosis I had no clue what the hell "darkwave" was. Now that I've heard, I'm still not exactly sure but I think I have a better idea.

Zak is a friend of mine from the UGA Music Business Program. If you were on the UGA campus during Gameday last fall, you might've seen him. He's the guy in mostly black with small "UGA MBUS PRESENTS" concert fliers stuck all over his body. The guy is relentless and his music shows that same dedication.

I remember first meeting Zak and going "This is an interesting guy..." He said he was in a band and from the way he dressed I assumed it was some metal/hardcore band in Athens. (Metal and its offspring is NOT my forte by any means). So we invited him and his band up to WUOG one night. We were not prepared for it.

Witness the Apotheosis has a sound that I can't really describe. It's like you took Depeche Mode mix, threw in some more industrial sound fruit, and filled the rest of the mixer with dark soul searching lyrical ice. Makes for a hell of a drink but if you don't have a taste for it, it may just make you stand back and stare.

Some of the songs on their myspace freak me out. Especially "Asylum" which features Zak laughing maniacally. Darkness is what they aim for. Darkness is what you get.

The ultimate irony of the darkness that is WtA is that Zak and Terance are quite possibly the nicest people in Athens. They're quick to compliment and very very careful about complaints.

So if you have a chance, Witness the Apotheosis is playing the Rye Bar this weekend. Go see 'em, even if you don't like darkwave. It's a chance to see something completely unique in Athens, which is unfortunately rare these days.

Happy Birthday Michael Stipe!

Athens' most well known scarf/hat enthusiast, I mean, singer/lyricist, turns 49 today.

Kinda hard to underestimate the tremendous impact that Mr. Stipe has had on the music landscape in his career. Not to mention his work in politics, art, and general coolness.

If anyone sees him out and about, wish him well from all of us here at Athens Music Junkie.

Coming Up on Athens Music Junkie

A new year brings new ideas and new possibilities so Athens Music Junkie is going to go full force for our first full calendar year of existence. It's been fun trying to decide what to do with this outlet since it's grown so expect some big new stuff coming down the pike.

I'm saying prepare for more tour date schedules, record reviews, and, gasp, ACTUAL ARTIST INTERVIEWS! Woah.

Consider this a warming...2009 is going to rock your face off. Some stuff we'll be covering in the next few months.

From R.E.M. HQ:
"Reckoning" will be reissued so expect some coverage of the release party
Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall in NY (as much as possible)
Any new recording rumors
Peter Buck's side projects will garner a mention as the Minus 5, Venus 3, Tuatara and all the others release records and tour.

The Modern Skirts are "officially" releasing their sophomore disc so check back here for updates on how that's going along with some show reviews.

Pylon is rumored to be rereleasing their back catalog soon and have been doing a lot more shows lately...

Widespread Panic, as always, are on tour. I'm hoping to cover them a bit more this year.

Friend of the blog Randall Bramblett is still going strong and we'll be keeping track of him via the UGA Music Business Program.

WUOG will be settling into its new home in Tate. We'll post some pictures of the new digs as soon as possible.

Dead Confederate, rising stars of the Athens scene, keep impressing the critics and music fans alike. It's going to be a challenge keeping up with them but we'll try!

Remember that one album from way back yonder? The B-B-Q Killers or the Swimming Pool Q's? You do? Do you remember what you thought about it? What would a review of it today look like? Stay tuned....

All this and whatever else gets thrown this way,


blueshades